Ex-aide says he worried Edwards might snuff him

(CBS/AP) A former aide to presidential candidate John Edwards says he felt in danger during a back road meeting where he asked Edwards to tell the truth about his mistress.

Andrew Young testified for a fifth day Friday in Edwards' trial. The former senator has denied federal charges of misusing campaign donations to hide the affair with Rielle Hunter and the fact they had a baby together.

Young claims he pretended to be the child's father and took Hunter into hiding to help Edwards.

Young said Friday he met Edwards on a rural road in 2008 to demand that Edwards tell the truth about the affair. He says Edwards drove them through a remote rural area and at one point he worried he was going to be killed.

Earlier in the trial, the prosecution had tried to plug potential holes in Young's testimony, focusing on inconsistencies such as why Young had written in his tell-all book, "The Politician," that the donations "were gifts, entirely proper, and not subject to campaign finance laws."

Young answered that, at the time, he wrote that the donations were legal for a simple reason: "I was scared to death," said Young. "I did this to cover my butt."

2. Young's story is kind of sad, actually

He seems like something of a sycophant whom the Edwards' used for rather menial tasks. But he was very devoted to John, which is why he was eventually chosen to take the fall for the baby. I guess at some point even he had had enough.

Plus Elizabeth publicly trashed him when this all broke and equated him with Hunter, essentially saying they were both scheming hangers-on. I thought that was kind of a mean thing to say about somebody who had demonstrated such loyalty, albeit of the misguided variety.

This whole thing has been a sordid mess. I'm glad it's being wrapped up.